University Spin-offs - QMC Instruments Ltd v Celtic Terahertz Technology Ltd
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Jane Lambert Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, Intellectual Property (Sir Colin Birss, Chancellor) QMC Instruments Ltd v Celtic Terahertz Technology Ltd and others [2025] EWHC 3485 (IPEC) (26 Nov 2025) This was a dispute between two university spin-off companies, which were incorporated to exploit the work of Professor Peter Ade . Professor Ade carried out research into the far-infrared spectrum first at Queen Mary College (now Queen Mary University London) until 2001 and afterwards at Cardiff University . While at Queen Mary, he helped to set up QMC Instruments Ltd. ("QMCIL") to sell far-infrared detectors and multimesh filters, some of which he had designed. Some years later, Professor Ade and colleagues who had followed him to Cardiff established Celtic Terahertz Technology Ltd ("CTT"). QMCIL Queen Mary College sold QMCILto investors in 1991 and warranted that the company was the sole beneficial owner of all the IP relatin...
